Sigismund I, Polish King Tolerated Reformation

Dan Graves, MSL

Church History Timeline

Poland is known today as one of the most Catholic of European
countries. The native land of Pope John Paul II, the faith of its people
helped bring down the Soviet empire. There was a time, however, when it
appeared that Poland might become Protestant.

Thirty-nine year old King Sigismund I took the throne in 1506. He was
a humanist--that is, one who appreciated the arts and literature. As
such, he corresponded with Erasmus (everyone of importance corresponded
with Erasmus!) the humanist whose writings had precipitated the
Protestant Reformation. The permissive Sigismund allowed a variety in
faith. On the one hand, Nicolas Copernicus flourished as a Catholic
canon during his reign, writing his theory that the sun is the center of
the universe, while on the other John Laski preached reformation.

If Sigismund did not persecute, it was partly owing to the power of
his nobles, many of whom had embraced the Reformation. The nobles of
Poland gained significant rights during the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries. Sometimes their power paralyzed the nation, because the king
had to win regional approval for taxes and wars. They pushed for
limitations on the established church. However, there was no unity among
the nobles in what should replace the Catholic church. Lutherans,
Anabaptists, Calvinists, United Brethren and other sects flourished
alongside traditional Catholicism.

Protestants went too far in some cases. At Danzig they threw the town
council out with threat of arms and appointed their own representatives.
They seized Catholic churches and other church properties, some of which
they converted to use as hospitals. Sigismund eventually beheaded a
number of Protestant leaders in that city.

The most significant accomplishment of Sigismund's reign was the
defeat of the Teutonic Knights who had long troubled eastern Europe.
When their grandmaster, Albert of Brandenburg, became a Lutheran,
Sigismund made him Duke of Prussia.

Sigismund died on this day, April 1,
1548. His son Sigismund II ruled in his stead, but died
suddenly and the throne passed to a nephew. Jesuits, working to restore
Catholicism to Poland during the counter-Reformation, were successful
because Poland's Protestants were badly divided. And they were helped by
the fact that Sigismund had married his nephew into the royal family of
the Catholic Hapsburgs, which brought Poland more firmly into the
Catholic sphere.

Bibliography:

Wylie, James A. History of Protestantism.
http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/ Voice/History.Protestant.v3.b19.html
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